SIX sculpture concepts by Shenzheners stood out from a field of 2,676 competitors to win prizes at an international sculpture competition for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Some sculptures from the prize-winning concepts announced in March will be placed in the Beijing Olympic Park in May, according to Olympic organizers. The park is the core area where the 2008 Olympics Games will be held. A total of 176 concepts won prizes for "Super excellence," 262 won for "Excellence," and 262 were awarded "Nomination" prizes.

Qiu Liang, 32, won two "Excellence" prizes with his terracotta sculptures "Unchanged Passion" and "Inspiration", both on the topic of mass sports. "Unchanged Passion," which shows a plump woman playing with an O-ring, is currently exhibited at the Nanshan Culture and Sports Center.

Qiu's two other works, "Rapture," a young man playing the drum, and "Butterflies," about the legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, the Chinese Romeo and Juliet, won "Nomination" prizes. While "Rapture" follows the simple and plump style of Tang Dynasty (618-907) terracottas, "Butterflies" represents the realistic strength and beauty of human bodies.

"Kicking a Shuttlecock" by Lu Jun also won an "Excellence" prize. The sculpture is now being made at Lu's sculpture factory in Shenzhen.

Lu, 41, said his work was inspired by games he played in childhood, such as rolling iron rings and kicking a shuttlecock, which are no longer popular.

Lu designed a total of 15 sculptures on childhood games for the Olympic sculpture contest. Although only one received a prize, he plans to make eight from the series. "I hope the sculptures will help adults recall their childhood and pull children away from the TV set and electronic games," Lu said.

Shenzhen sculptor Dai Yun won an "Encouragement" prize for his design of a braille bus-stop board. However, the design is not feasible for the Beijing Olympics.

Dai, 35, said the idea of making a braille bus-stop board occurred to him when he saw helpless blind people in front of bus-stop boards.

After discussing the problem with the municipal disabled persons' association and the Yuanping disabled children's school, Dai made his first braille bus-stop board in March 2005. It was temporarily placed at the Shangmeilin bus stop in Futian District.

Dai, who likes to explore the utility of arts, is now working on sculptures for blind children. "Blind children can only hear TV programs. I want to help them experience cartoon figures in TV series," said Dai. He also wants to help blind children create sculptures of their families.

"Excellence" prize winner Qiu feels that sculpture is very important for a city. It not only beautifies a city but also represents the spirit of its people, like the Statue of Liberty in New York and the Pioneering Bull in Shenzhen, he said.

Although Shenzhen seldom holds major sculpture exhibitions, it has many outstanding urban sculptures, like those in the Overseas Chinese Town, Shangbu Road, Nanshan Culture Center and central Longgang, Qiu said.

Editor: Wing